Wine festival, symposium at Yavapai College-Sedona Center Saturday

File photo by Vyto Starinskas/Verde Independent

Michael Pierce, enology program director for the Yavapai College Southwest Wine Center, pours a glass of wine during a Verde Valley Wine Consortium, hosted this year at Yavapai College’s Sedona Center.

“Each year the Wine Festival and Symposium builds upon the previous,” Tom Schumacher, president of the VVWC, said. “Last year, our theme was ‘Taking Root.’ This year, we are celebrating ‘The Fruits of our Labor’ and have put together a fantastic wine festival with lots of information for the novice, wine connoisseur, winemaker and anyone who loves to sip wine, make wine or grow grapes.”

The day starts off with a wine marketing discussion followed by a series of wine and vineyard discussions led by well-known local winery owners and enologists (Sam Pillsbury, Michael Pierce, Joe Bechard and Jeff Hendricks). There will also be a presentation on “social media and wine” by the local AZ writer and Wine Monk, Cody Burket.

“The symposium creates an environment that encourages sharing information and the experiences of winegrowers and winemakers throughout the region,” Yavapai College Enology Program Director, Michael Pierce said. “This sharing of knowledge not only lessens the learning curve for people new to concepts involved in winemaking, but also helps to continue the development of a strong wine industry in the Southwest.”

The Grand Arizona Wine Tasting and raffle will begin at noon. The afternoon features two chocolate and wine pairing sessions with Jason Wasser of Xocolatl. This was a fan favorite at last year’s festival.

Call 928-593-9694 for information about the wine festival and symposium. To learn more about the Viticulture and Enology program at Yavapai College, visit www.VitiCulture.yc.edu.